Robbery Suspect Charged In Plainville Case

September 12, 1996

BRISTOL — A Bristol man accused of being the polite holdup man who robbed two Bristol convenience stores and tried to rob a third within an hour last month has been charged with the attempted robbery of a Plainville store.

Richard Duclos, 37, whose last known address was in Bristol, has been charged with the Aug. 7 robbery of an Xtra Mart convenience store at 149 New Britain Ave. in Plainville.

Duclos is already in jail on $150,000 bail in connection with the Bristol robberies. He is also a suspect in several robberies in Southington.

According to court records, a man walked up to the Xtra Mart counter just after 5 a.m. with a carton of chocolate milk and said to the clerk, ``This may sound funny, but I need you to open the register.''

``Why?'' asked the clerk.

``Because I have a gun,'' the man said, reaching for an object tucked in his waistband.

According to records, the clerk refused to open the drawer, and the would-be robber left.

Thirty minutes later, Southington police reported two similar robberies by a man of the same description.

The next day, Duclos allegedly robbed the Food Bag store at 396 Birch St. in Bristol.

He was caught when Bristol police spotted his car in the parking lot of the DB Mart, at Pine and Emmett streets.

That day he had also robbed the Food Express store on Lake Avenue in Bristol, where he told the clerk, ``I hate to do this to you, but this is a robbery.''

According to an affidavit, he told police he never had a gun, but instead used an oil wrench tucked into his pants. He said that he never intended to hurt anyone.